The Big Dig

Excavating a Blue Whale

In May, an expanded team of UBC researchers and affiliates headed to Prince Edward Island, Canada to retrieve the entire skeleton of a blue whale. First, a trench alongside the whale was dug with an excavator. Using shovels, pickaxes, and other tools, the team is now carefully exposing the carcass and peeling away the remaining skin, flesh, and blubber. The bones are being removed, cleaned, and labeled, ready to be packed in a refrigerated container from CN rail to the skeleton's final resting place: The Beaty Biodiversity Museum at UBC.